Web Links

• p. 65: Go to http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/reports/waobr/wasde-bb/ to see how the U.S. Department of Agriculture seeks to estimate demand and supply conditions for major agricultural products.

Issues and Applications Web Resources:

• Track jobs for new economics instructors at the links to academic position openings provided by the American Economic Association’s "Job Openings for Economists" site http://www.aeaweb.org/joe/.
• For the U.S. Department of Labor’s outlook on career opportunities in college and university teaching, go to http://stats.bls.gov/oco/ocos066.htm

The U.S. Nursing Shortage
For some years media stories have discussed a shortage of qualified nurses in the United States. This application explores some of the factors that have caused the quantity of newly trained nurses demanded to tend to exceed the quantity of newly trained nurses supplied.

     Title: Enrollment Increase Insufficient to Meet the Projected Increase in Demand for New Nurses

     Navigation: Go to http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/shortageresource.htm#about, and click on "Enrollment Increase Insufficient to Meet the Projected Increase in Demand for New Nurses."

Application
Read the discussion, and answer the following questions.

1. Since 1995, what has happened to the demand for new nurses in the United States? What has happened to the supply of new nurses? Why has the result been a shortage?

2. If there is a free market for the skills of new nurses, what can you predict is likely to happen to the wage rate earned by individuals who have just completed their nursing training?